New Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain used one of his first visits on South Carolina offensive line commit Christian Pellage (6-6, 291, Brooksville, FL Nature Coast) during his second day on the job. The gesture from the new head coach is one that didn’t go unnoticed from the offensive lineman.
“That made me feel pretty good knowing that the new coach wanted to see me so soon,” Pellage said. “I got to talk to him [McElwain] and I felt pretty good about him and he seems like a great guy. I think he’s going to do great things at Florida.”
Pellage didn’t hear much from the old coaching staff but he was glad that McElwain started to recruit him to Florida again.
“I was pretty happy that they came to see me because they are low on tackles and that was something Coach McElwain was telling me,” Pellage said. “Coach McElwain said he would love to have me come play for him.”
One thing that Florida has going for them is that offensive line coach Mike Summers is likely to be retained and that’s a familiar face for Pellage.
“Coach McElwain said I had a good chance of coming in and competing for a job early on,” Pellage said. “It was great to hear that Coach Summers was coming back because he’s a great coach too. I’ve worked with Coach Summers at a camp before and it was a good experience so he’s someone that I’m comfortable with.”
Pellage who remains solid to South Carolina says he’s likely to take three official visits but multiple teams are trying to get the offensive lineman on campus in January.
“I decided to take my officials late so I’m trying to squeeze in as many visits in January as a I can,” Pellage said. “I definitely have South Carolina locked in for January 24th so that leaves two weekends for officials. I’m going to decide between Florida, USF and Alabama for those two weekends.”
One thing that could Florida secure an official visit is that Gainesville is close to home and his family would like for him to stay close to home for college.
“My mom would love to have me a little closer,” Pellage said. “I’m going to talk to my parents and see what they would like me to do and I hope to come up with at least two or three official visits for January.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Pellage admitted that it was nice to hear that Florida had a lot of interest in him now and it seems like the Gators are gaining traction here. I expect Pellage to take an official to Florida in January based off of some of things I’ve heard.